Monty Bennett’s name will not appear on the ballot for the Tarrant Regional Water District board of directors yet he remains a powerful backstage player whose influence could shape the direction of the district’s business for years to come.

Chris Brassard and Omar Diaz had apartments in mind when they built a 12-unit complex on May Street just south of West Magnolia Avenue on Fort Worth’s Near Southside. Then their leasing agent, Will Northern of Northern Realty Group, suggested they consider selling the units as condominiums.

Basic Energy Services Inc.’s well-servicing rig count has remained unchanged at 421, according to the Fort Worth company’s newly released selected operating data for the month of April 2014.

Meanwhile, well-servicing rig hours for the month totaled 71,300, producing a rig utilization rate of 70 percent, compared to 75 percent and 70 percent in March 2014 and April 2013, respectively.

The company sold four inland barge workover rigs in March, with numbers of rigs, rig hours and rig utilization rate for April 2013 and March 2014 recalculated as if those four rigs had been sold for those periods.

During the month, Basic's fluid service truck count increased by two to 1,014. Fluid service truck hours for the month were 212,200 compared to 211,000 and 188,800 in March 2014 and April 2013, respectively.

Drilling rig days for the month were 293 producing a rig utilization of 81 percent, compared to 81 percent and 75 percent in March 2014 and April 2013, respectively.

"Activity levels across our footprint continued to accelerate in April,” said president and CEO Roe Patterson in a news release.

Well servicing utilization was relatively flat sequentially, excluding the impact of the Easter holiday period and weather related delays that the company experienced in April, as demand remains stable in the segment, Patterson said.

Basic Energy Services, which provides oil and gas well-site services, employs more than 5,500 workers in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kansas and the Rocky Mountain and Appalachian regions. More information is available at www.basicenergyservices.com.